The Halloween Experiment

• In Event: Exploring Public Opinion and Public Policy Surrounding LGBTQ Interests in the US

Abstract

Research suggests that individuals who are told about another person’s “journey” to attitude change are more likely to be open to persuasive messaging. We conducted a randomized controlled experiment testing this theory, using paper surveys collected on Halloween 2018. Participants were adults accompanying children trick-or-treating in San Jose, California. In the treatment condition, participants saw a photo of a mom and her transgender daughter and read a short vignette about the mom’s journey story, as well as a brief description of what it means to be transgender. Participants in the control condition saw the transgender rights symbol and read the same brief definition. Surveys were conducted in both English and Spanish. As hypothesized, participants in the treatment condition were more likely to say they are comfortable around transgender people, more likely to say transgender people are born that way, and were more supportive of transgender rights.

Authors

• Melissa R. Michelson, Menlo College

• Brian F. Harrison, University of Minnesota